September 2013

September 28, 2013

Alert! This post is now part of the new Iskra Design website at the new AlphabetRoadtrip . If you are pinning or linking to this post please click on this new link and pin from my new site, as this blog will be going away in about 6 months and the link will not be active. Thanks!

These contemporary scripts have been created for a variety of clients for application in packaging, advertising and publishing. I blend my years of training in Asian brush work with a love of typographic precision to create these letterforms. You could call my approach to modern calligraphy, Basho meets Hermann Zapf -- not that I am anywhere near achieving the of mastery of these wizards! My goal is always to put the word first, and to use style to find the right voice for what is being expressed. This collection of work is created with brush, pen, and various other mark-making tools, scanned and vectorized for final reproduction when needed.

September 01, 2013

Here are two new book covers in very different styles. The first title for Jackie Collins is done with a bold brush for a casual contemporary look. The second is a children's book title done in a style of formal calligraphy designed to have many of the qualities of a font.

Casual brush lettering for a contemporary book title

Formal calligraphic lettering for a children's book

I start these formal styles with a calligraphic pen, and then modify using a combination of hand techniques and computer.

*I have just added a new expanded set of book cover projects to my portfolio at Behance. I have many portfolios there and will be adding more soon. Check it out!